Abstract
Climate drives ecosystem processes and impacts biodiversity. Biodiversity patterns over large areas, such as Canada's boreal, can be monitored using indirect indicators derived from remotely sensed imagery. In this paper, we characterized the historical space–time relationships between climate and a suite of indirect indicators of biodiversity, known as the Dynamic Habitat Index (DHI) to identify where climate variability is co-occurring with changes in biodiversity indicators. We represented biodiversity using three indirect indicators generated from 1987 to 2007 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer images. By quantifying and clustering temporal variability in climate data, we defined eight homogeneous climate variability zones, where we then analyzed the DHI. Results identified unique areas of change in climate, such as the Hudson Plains, that explain significant variations in DHI. Past variability in temperatures and growing season index had a strong influence on observed vegetation productivity and seasonality changes throughout Canada's boreal. Variation in precipitation, for most of the area, was not associated with DHI changes. The methodology presented here enables assessment of spatial–temporal relationships between biodiversity and climate variability and characterizes distinctive zones of variation that may be used for prioritization and planning to ensure long-term biodiversity conservation in Canada.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 676-696 |
| Number of pages | 21 |
| Journal | International Journal of Digital Earth |
| Volume | 9 |
| Issue number | 7 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Jul 2 2016 |
| Externally published | Yes |
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Keywords
- biodiversity
- boreal forest
- Climate change
- DHI
- fPAR
- spatial–temporal analysis
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Earth and Planetary Sciences(all)
- Computer Science Applications
- Software
Cite this
Characterization of spatial relationships between three remotely sensed indirect indicators of biodiversity and climate : a 21years’ data series review across the Canadian boreal forest. / Perez, Liliana; Nelson, Trisalyn; Coops, Nicholas C.; Fontana, Fabio; Drever, C. Ronnie.
In: International Journal of Digital Earth, Vol. 9, No. 7, 02.07.2016, p. 676-696.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Characterization of spatial relationships between three remotely sensed indirect indicators of biodiversity and climate
T2 - a 21years’ data series review across the Canadian boreal forest
AU - Perez, Liliana
AU - Nelson, Trisalyn
AU - Coops, Nicholas C.
AU - Fontana, Fabio
AU - Drever, C. Ronnie
PY - 2016/7/2
Y1 - 2016/7/2
N2 - Climate drives ecosystem processes and impacts biodiversity. Biodiversity patterns over large areas, such as Canada's boreal, can be monitored using indirect indicators derived from remotely sensed imagery. In this paper, we characterized the historical space–time relationships between climate and a suite of indirect indicators of biodiversity, known as the Dynamic Habitat Index (DHI) to identify where climate variability is co-occurring with changes in biodiversity indicators. We represented biodiversity using three indirect indicators generated from 1987 to 2007 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer images. By quantifying and clustering temporal variability in climate data, we defined eight homogeneous climate variability zones, where we then analyzed the DHI. Results identified unique areas of change in climate, such as the Hudson Plains, that explain significant variations in DHI. Past variability in temperatures and growing season index had a strong influence on observed vegetation productivity and seasonality changes throughout Canada's boreal. Variation in precipitation, for most of the area, was not associated with DHI changes. The methodology presented here enables assessment of spatial–temporal relationships between biodiversity and climate variability and characterizes distinctive zones of variation that may be used for prioritization and planning to ensure long-term biodiversity conservation in Canada.
AB - Climate drives ecosystem processes and impacts biodiversity. Biodiversity patterns over large areas, such as Canada's boreal, can be monitored using indirect indicators derived from remotely sensed imagery. In this paper, we characterized the historical space–time relationships between climate and a suite of indirect indicators of biodiversity, known as the Dynamic Habitat Index (DHI) to identify where climate variability is co-occurring with changes in biodiversity indicators. We represented biodiversity using three indirect indicators generated from 1987 to 2007 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer images. By quantifying and clustering temporal variability in climate data, we defined eight homogeneous climate variability zones, where we then analyzed the DHI. Results identified unique areas of change in climate, such as the Hudson Plains, that explain significant variations in DHI. Past variability in temperatures and growing season index had a strong influence on observed vegetation productivity and seasonality changes throughout Canada's boreal. Variation in precipitation, for most of the area, was not associated with DHI changes. The methodology presented here enables assessment of spatial–temporal relationships between biodiversity and climate variability and characterizes distinctive zones of variation that may be used for prioritization and planning to ensure long-term biodiversity conservation in Canada.
KW - biodiversity
KW - boreal forest
KW - Climate change
KW - DHI
KW - fPAR
KW - spatial–temporal analysis
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U2 - 10.1080/17538947.2015.1116623
DO - 10.1080/17538947.2015.1116623
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84953305551
VL - 9
SP - 676
EP - 696
JO - International Journal of Digital Earth
JF - International Journal of Digital Earth
SN - 1753-8947
IS - 7
ER -